Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music's "Mercy" took home Best Collaboration. While West was nominated for a night-topping 17 awards, he wasn't around to collect his winnings. 2 Chainz, likely to no one's surprise, won the People's Choice Award, while Kendrick Lamar took home the award for Lyricist of the Year. T.I. presented Rakim with the I Am Hip-Hop Icon award. Awesomely, Drake's "HYFR" took home Best Hip Hop Video. (Check out the full list of winners here.)

Kendrick Lamar performed "The Recipe", but the cyphers were the real draw of the night. Two huge highlights were the West Coast roundtable (Kendrick, DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg, E-40) and the RZA's Iron Mic cypher (Angel Haze, A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$). Randomly, Schoolboy Q showed up on one with Mystikal. Thanks Sprite!

The awards, which were taped in late September, reignited a long-standing feud between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy. Following a shirtless performance of Rick Ross' ultra-gruff "Hold Me Back", a shoving match allegedly occurred backstage between Ross and Jeezy.

Later in the evening, Maybach Music Group rapper Gunplay-- who's got a notoriously short fuse-- got tangled with a group of 50 Cent's G-Unit affiliates. A couple of days later, Gunplay told TMZ: "It was just some big old melee... I never liked [50 Cent]. I always wanted to kick his ass, so I finally got the opportunity to get close to him." The man does not mince words.

A counterpoint to that aggression was the show's tribute to the late Chris Lighty, one of the most beloved industry executives in hip-hop history. LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Fat Joe and 50 Cent all paid homage to Lighty, who committed suicide this summer.